Tolerance
by Odd Pudding
Summary: Meredith Stannard, a new addition to the Templar Order finds herself surrounded by the people she despises most: Mages. But when conflict threatens all their lives, she will have to work with an unlikely ally to survive.


Note: This is an alternate reality wherein Meredith did not have quite as traumatic an experience with Mages, therefore her paranoia is more or less in check.

Chapter 1: Fair 

Morning had come all too quickly to the great fortress city of Kirkwall, rousting its inhabitants from their places of slumber, heralding the start of another days work for the new Templar: Meredith Stannard. The expression on the young woman's face was delicately balanced between stoicism and frustration, the shallow lines between her eyebrows attesting to her displeasure as her blue eyes played on the sturdy edifice to which she was headed.  
>The strained statues of the gallows, although caked with discolored rust, shone brightly from a distance; Had she not been used to the sight, it would probably unnerve her even more than she was already.<p>

Mages. All she had been seeing for the last week and a half. Mages in the flesh, prancing about the Gallows, playing with their wicked gift freely. Meredith's expression tensed as her mind flashed back to the tragedy that still haunted her; They were all volatile, ready to ignite at any moment, and she was on the front lines.

Suddenly the woman took a deep, calming breath, clearing her racing mind.

Perhaps they were all volatile, but that is why they were all in the Gallows, to learn to control themselves and to keep them far away from potential victims. With this new resolution in mind, she finally started her ascent to the Gallows proper.

The new Templar nodded stiffly to her colleagues as she climbed the steps; most of the order was already here, as they usually lived in the barracks inside the Gallows itself. But Meredith couldn't bring herself to move from her mother's house, fearing that the loneliness would do little to help her deteriorating mental state.

"Morning Stannard! You look a little pale, still a bit queasy?" Meredith blinked and looked up at the voice that had called to her, her brow furrowed.

"No, Emeric, I am quite fine, thank you." She responded to the older Templar's remark with stony indifference, making an effort to whisk past him without illiciting more of his attention. Much to her chagrin, however, he followed closely behind her, pressing her further.

"It's alright, you know. Most new Templars are nervous when they first encounter so many Mages in one place..." The blonde man smiled meekly. "Actually, you do quite well, compared to some I see." 

Suddenly, the blue eyed woman halted her strong stride, turning quite abruptly to face Emeric. "Once again, Ser Emeric, I assure you that your blatant attempts to woo me do little more than impel me to drive my blade through your chest." Though her expression was casual, her words were like snake bites, each syllable stinging with venom. "Your compliments will go unnoticed, and your chivalry is unappreciated. Our relationship will remain utterly platonic for the duration of our existence together," The eyes of Ser Emeric's colleagues were all focused on the one-sided dispute as Meredith continued to berate the poor man. "So I suggest you tail a more fruitful prospect, and leave me to do my job."

With those final words, the blue-eyed warrior turned and strides toward the gated entrance to the tower, ignoring the roar of laughter and cat-calls that echoed through the proper.

Meredith frowned at the adolescent behavior of her fellows, all too often they acted like teenagers rather than trained fighters. Knight-Commander Guylian was far too loose with his charges, they caused problems not only in the Gallows, but in the city as well; It was no wonder the Vicount was growing impatient with the Order.

Meredith waved at the gatekeeper, who gave his salutations and opened the door for her, promptly closing after she stepped in. Her keen eyes scanned the common room, gaining her bearings before she stepped into the magical hornets nest. Since Meredith finished her training, she had made the same patrol every day: she would go from the common room to each connecting room counter-clockwise, until all of the levels had been patrolled.

From her place she turned left and climbed up the stairwell, making wide circles around any Mages who happened to be in her path. Sometimes this would catch looks from them for it, but she did her best to ignore them.

She continued down the left hallway, which led to a courtyard where the youngest apprentice Mages would get lessons from the resident enchanters. This room always made her the most nervous, even more so than where the older Mage apprentices got trained. Children didn't have the slightest inkling on how to control themselves, which made child Mages that much more dangerous.  
>She hesitated only a moment before stepping inside, being further uneased by what she observed upon entering.<br>As usual, three groups of apprentice Mages, separated by specialization, were practicing in the courtyard, and several groups of Templars watched as the lessons progressed, also something she had become accustom to seeing... However the one difference she saw, and the difference that unnerved her, was the fact that there seemed to only be one enchanter performing lessons with all three groups.  
>She should have guessed this would happen, being that yesterday several enchanters were put into confinement due to a pending investigation that involved blood magic... But she hadn't realized that there were so few available to teach the Magelings. <p>

The Young Templar took a deep breath, gathering her courage as she strode further into the courtyard, she would stay here a while, until the lessons were over... Just in case.  
>The blonde woman found a shady corner to observe from and watched the enchanter in charge of all these students hurry from group to group. She didn't know this enchanter's name yet, but she had seen him around quite a few times. He was an elf, and from what she could tell, he was abnormally gifted for his young age. He had a rather eloquent way of holding himself, and even though he was rushing between the three groups of children, he did it with grace and poise that made it look like it was his nature to do so. <p>

It wasn't long, however, until a bright flash of light caught the corner of her eye, she turned her gaze to the source, then grimaced. One of the children seemed to have accidentally caught a fellow students robes on fire, and the other children were trying to push him toward the courtyard fountain. Meredith's whole body tensed, but she glanced at the Elven Enchanter before she took any action. Much to the woman's relief, the enchanter had noticed what had happened, and quickly strode over to put out the fire on the young students robes.

"Hey! What do you think your doing, rotten little Mageling?" A voice caught the female Templar's attention, and she looked back to the young Mage who had caused the problem. A Templar had quickly strode over to the tiny violator, and now loomed over the little girl, who looked something like a kicked puppy.

"I-I... S-sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to- I didn't do it on purpo—AHH!" The little girl let out a pained scream as a heavy metal gauntlet roughly grabbed her tiny robed arm and yanked her towards the enforcing Templar. 

"I don't want to hear your excuses, Mage. You will be punished fo-"

"_Excuse me_, but I must demand that you release my charge, Ser Derricks." A smooth, deep voice caught the attention of everyone in the courtyard. The one who spoke was none other than the enchanter, and he did not look happy about Ser Derricks actions against the young girl.

Derricks' frown intensified as his dark eyes fell on the elf. "It's our job to enforce and protect you Mages from yourselves and eachother, you can't order me to release her, Orsino." He snarled, shaking the girl violently, as if to prove his point.

Orsino's expression changed from aggravation to insult. "Knight-Commander Guylian gave the enchanters charge over the young ones, you know that!" The elf took a step closer, which caused Derricks to release the girl and instead focus his aggressive stance on Orsino. The elf didn't flinch, but it was obvious that words needed to be picked carefully to avoid an altercation. 

"Yeah, Orsino, we all know how you'll handle her. You'll give her a nice pat on the head and encourage her to catch a Templar on fire next-time." The testosterone raging Templar scowled at the shorter, less impressive man.

Orsino sneered at his show of muscle. "I didn't realize the Chantry trained its Templar's to show off by beating defensless children-" SMACK! Before the elven man could finish his insult, Derricks smashed the back of his metal gauntlet into the side of Orsino's face, sending the poor man flying toward the ground, gasps and cries from the children echoed through the courtyard as the enchanter hit the ground with a dull _thud._  
>Meredith, who had been inching closer and closer during this entire encounter, suddenly bristled at the sudden, unprecedented act of violence. The woman jolted forward, grasping Derricks' hand, which had reached for the blade on his back. <p>

"Ser Derricks, that is **enough**." she spat, thrusting his arm away from the hilt of his weapon. Derricks looked down at Meredith, surprised at her actions.

"Enough? Did you hear what the elf said to me?" He snarled at the woman, bending over her in an attempt to intimidate.

"I heard Enchanter Orsino call you out on your barbaric behavior. He is absolutely correct, we are trained guardians, not endorsed child-beaters. You do The Maker an injustice." She snapped back at him, unafraid of his looming figure.

Derricks growled down at her, but broke away from the conflict, rejoining the two other Templars that had been with him. "The Knight-Commander will hear about this, Stannard." He warned, as he retreated back to the common room.

"Yes he will." The new Templar murmured under her breath, her thin lips curved in a deep frown. She looked down at the Elven Enchanter, who's bright green eyes were wide and fixated on her, as if he couldn't believe what he had just seen, his left hand covered a large red welt that was beginning to form on his cheek. The woman sighed at the pathetic sight and hesitated a moment, mentally cringing at the idea of touching him, but held out her hand to help the elf to his feet. "Are you alright?" she asked blandly.

Orsino blinked at the offered hand, then smiled nervously at her and took it with his free hand, pulling himself back to his feet. "Ah... Yes, I am fine. Thank you for your rescue, Templar... Stannard?" He said tentatively, trying to choose his words carefully.  
>Her face held no emotion as she searched for something to say in his smooth face; though she looked clam on the inside, her stomach was knotted with disgust and apprehension.<p>

"Yes. Stannard." She finally responded, tearing her blue eyes away from him. "Don't provoke aggression anymore." She ordered of him shortly, starting to turn away.

"I was defending my char-" The elf began to snap back at her in defense of his actions, but stopped short, realizing he was barking at his own rescuer. "Hm... I will endeavor to apply your advice... Thank you." He responded graciously.

She turned her head to glance at him, her eyebrows raised. "It wasn't advice, it was an order." Then, without another word, she walked stiffly out of the courtyard, her mind reeling from the events she just participated in. 

Author's note: Thank you for reading, there will be more chapters. If anyone has any critiques, I would appreciate them. I haven't written anything in a very long time.


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